Collapsible lifeboat-chock



A. P. SCHAT. COLLAPSIBLE LIFEBOAT CHOCK. APPLICATION man mm; 12, 1.920.

/ j 2 SHEETSSHEET 1.

Jifarng/ Patented Apr. 5, 1921.

A. P. SCHAT.

COLLAPSIBLE LIFEBOAT CHOCK. APPLICATION FILED JUNE 12, 1920.

Patented Apr. 5, 1921.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2- jiiorizgy.

ANE PIETER S CHAT, OF UTREGHT, NETHERLANDS.

GOLLAPSIBLE LIFEBOAT-CHOCK.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Ann Prnrnn Sonar, a subject of the Queen of theNetherlands, residing at Utrecht, Netherlands, have invented certain newand useful Improvements in Collapsible Lifeboat Chocks, of which thefollowing is a specification.

The present invention relates to collapsible life boat chocks of thetype comprising in combination a stationary supporting member and apivotally mounted supporting member, the latter of which supports thekeel of the boat and, when collapsed, allows the boat to swing outfreely.

Tn collapsible chocks of this type it has been proposed to anchor themovable member by means of a flexible member such as a chain passingunder a roller secured to a stationary part of the vessel to the gunwaleof the lifeboat where it is made secure.

In other known constructions serious difficulties may be experienced inwithdrawing the element which holds the pivotally mounted supportingmember in its supporting position, owing to the heavy pressurG broughtto bear by the boat on the chocks and consequently on the lockingelement.

Moreover, said pressure may cause undue deformations of the lockingelement, espe cially when the shipguards or grips are not taut so thatthe boat-is free to ride on its chocks with the rocking of the ship.

The chief object of the present invention is to provide means wherebythe pivotally mounted supporting member may be caused to collapse in asimple and efiicient manner without requiring any considerable'force.

According to my present invention the lifeboat chock comprises incombination with a stationary supporting member having an inclineextending downwardly and outwardly toward the water, a pivotally mountedsupporting member on'which'the keel of the lifeboat rests so that itbears the weight of the boat, and having its pivot at the inside of thevertical plane passing through the keel of the'boat, saidpivotedsupporting member being adapted to be locked by a j ournaled rigidlocking element such as a latch, a cam hook, or a crank like device insuch a manner thatthe force exerted thereon by the pivoted supportingmember passes substantially through the journal of said element.

In collapsible chocks of a different typeto the above comprisingstationary and piv- Specification of Letters Patent.

line

Patented Apr. 5, 1921 Application filed June 12, 1920. Serial No.388,528.

otally mounted supporting members in which the keel of the boat rests onthe stationary member it has been proposed to lock the pivotally mountedmember in its operative position by means of a rigid pivoted memberprovided with a projecting catch adapted to engage with the saidpivotally mounted member.

Referring to the accompanying drawings which illustrate, by way ofexample, two embodiments of the invention;

Figure 1 is a cross-sectional view on the AA in Fig. 2, which shows aplan view of a chock in accordance with my pres' ent invention;

Fig. 3 is a front view of a boat supported by the chocks; I

Fig. 4 is an illustration of a hook for en aging the outboard slip-guardchain;

Fig. 5 is an illustration of a hook for engaging the inboardslip-guardchain;

Fig. 6 is a cross-sectional view of a second embodiment of my invention.

Referring to Figs. 1 to 8, the boat is supported on chocks eachcomprising two members pivoted together. One of these memhers isstationary and is formed by two substantially triangular parallelframes, one side 1 of which is inclined outwardly and downwardly and isso formed as to engage the inner side of the boat; said frames aresecured to the deck and are spaced apart a sufiicient distance toreceive easily between them a supporting member 3 rotatably mounted on ajournal 2 which passes centrally through the inclines 1. The supportingmember 3 has preferably the shape as shown, and serves in its raisedposition to support the outer side of the boat. The supporting member 3has a tendency to drop downwardly by i gravity, when its top and bottomsides practically coincide with those of the stationary triangularframes. In other words, it is so constructed that when it swingsdownwardly it becomes apart of the incline 1 upon which the boat movesto.- ward the water.

In its supporting position the supporting member 3 is held againstrotation about its pivot 2 by means of a gravity latch 4 rotatablymounted on the stationary frames by means of a journal 5. The latch issojournaled that the force exerted thereon by the member 3 actssubstantially in a line passing through the journal 5. This journal isnearer the forward 'end of the latch than certain angular the latch 4.]

' screwworking in a the rearward end to cause said rearward end to havea by gravity and the forward end to rise into a cut-away portion 6 ofthe rocker 3. At

the rear end of the latch 4 I provide a com- 7 bined doublehook and cam7 which has the shape of the letter S inverted and is rigidly mounted atits center on a shaft 8 journaled inthe' stationary frame. The upperhook of the member 7 in the position shown engages the rearward end ofthe gravity 3 latch l. 1

On the shaft 8 a rope wheel 9, and a lever 11 are mounted. A rope issecured-to the rope Wheel 9. V

It should be noticed that the pull exerted by the rearward end of thelatch l on the cam hook 7 is one line passing through the pivot 8, sothat said hook 7 firmly holds the latch with little or no tendency tomove backwardly out of engagement therewith.

Pivotally mounted on a shaft 12suppcrted by the stationary frame is abell-crank lever 13 having a short rearwardly inclined arm which in theposition shown in 3 overreaches the end oi the lever 11 so as to preventthe latter from moving upward,

V wh ereas the longer forwardly extending arm of the bell-crank lever 13is ingengagement with the deck. an eye provided in said longer arm, andthence upwardly through a rigid eye 14 secured to-the stationary frame.

It will be seen that a pull upon the rope 10 in the direction. of thearrow 15 will cause the bell-crank lever 13 7 distance, thus releasingthe lever 11. The rope wheel 9 is then rotated under the action of therope 10, whereby the upper hook oi. the cam hook 7 disengages Then, asthe shaft 8 continues to move in the same dire tion, the rearward end ofthe latch 4 is positively lifted by the lower cam of the cam hook 7,whereby the forward end oi said latch discn. the

cut-away portion '6 of the supporting mem her 3. The supporting member 3is then free to rotate about its pivot 2; so that it swings down intothe position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1 and the boat is free tomove toward the water. I

' It the outer side oi the boat were supported exclusively ormainlv bythe top of the supporting member 3," the leverage of the load of theboat on the lockin .means would be considerable and the face of-thecutaway.

portion 6 would exert a heavy pressure upon the latch 4, so that turningthe latter would require considerable force; Therefore, I provide the,supporting member 3 at the outer side of the pivot 2 and at a slight distance therefrom with a jack-screw 16 vertically below the keel of theboat, said jackthreaded plate and be ing'provided with openings in theperiphery permanent tendency to descend Th e rope 10 passes through toturn through a locked by a comb of its head to be engaged by abar forturning the screw. When-the screw is turned upwardlythe weight of theboat is supported thereupon and thestrain is taken 0d the outer end ofthe supporting member 3, which greatly reduces the strain on the latch4i. i

The boat when resting on its chocks is securely held thereon by means ofinboard and outboard slipguard chains 17 and 18 provided at their lowerends with elongated links for engaging rigid hooks 19, 20 extending in'adirection transversely of the ship and open toward the water, said hooksbeing secured to the stationary frame and to the deck respectively Itwill be seen that when the'chock collapses the tension of he chains l7,18 is relieved and as the boat moves downwardly and outwardly toward thewater, the elongated links of the chains will readily slip out'of thehooks.

The extreme simplicity of my slip-guard arrangement is a feature otgreatpractical value. It should be noticed that the hook 19, 20 are notmounted on levers orbars or any other movable parts of the operatingmechanism. Nothing is necessary to insure their certain oper. tionexcept the downward movement of the l the checks, dependent lifeboat onthe incline of;

operation when the check is tripped. Moreover, the hooks 19, 20themselves have ro joints liable to get their parts stuck fast to eachother. i

Fig; 6 of the drawings illustrates a second embodiment of my invention;According to this embodiment, the lower extension of the pivotallymounted supporting member is adapted to engage with the hooked nose of alatch i which is pivoted at 5 to the stationary member. When the member8 is held in its operative position it will be seen that the forceexerted thereby on the latch 4 is substantially in a line passing'through the pivot 5 avoiding any undue deformation of the latch 4.In this example however, the strain upon the latch is in the form of apull, and not of a pressure. 7 V

The latch 4 is provided at the side remote from the hooked nose with anextension member which has a tendency to rotate the latch so 'as tocause the hooked nose thereof to engage with'the member 3. Thisextension men'iber is adapted to be engaged and V 'ied hook and; cam '7mounted on the shaait 8. Themember 7 is of a similar shape to letter S,and is adapted to operate to unlock the latch 4 in the same manner asthe member 7 "described with reference to Fig. 1.

,The rope wheel 9,othe-bell-cranklever13, and the rope 10 might bealtogether dispensed with as the lever 11 has a tendency to movedownwardlyby gravity and thus hold the mechanism in locking condition.

In this case said lever 11 might be suitably weighted. (Fig. 6). Asstated before, the shaft 8 has little or no tendency to rotate under theinfluence of the load of the lifeboat, so that this arrangement is assafe as that described in detail with reference to Figs. 1 to 3.

Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my saidinvention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declarethat what I claim is 1. A. lifeboat chock comprising two members forsupporting the boat, one of said members being stationary and the othermember being pivoted thereto; a stop on said pivoted member of thechock; a journaled bar disposed tangentially to the path of said stopand having its inner end adaptcd to come into abutting engagement withsaid stop to form a lock for the pivoted member of the chock, and tocause the compression exerted on the end of said bar to passsubstantially longitudinally through said bar to the journal thereof;and means for tripping said tangential bar to unlock the pivoted memberof the chock.

2. A device of the character described, comprising a stationary memberhaving an incline extending downwardly and out wardly toward the waterand designed to engage the inner side of the boat; a cooperating membernormally extending outwardly and upwardly from said stationary member toengage the outer side of the boat to hold the boat against movement downthe incline toward the Water, said eoiiperating member being pivoted tothe stationary member to rock downwardly and inwardly thereupon; a stopon said movable member; a journaled bar lying in the plane of saidpivoted member and disposed tangentially to the path of said stop andhaving its inner end adapted to move by gravity into abut-- tingengagement with said stop, to form a gravity latch for engaging saidstop when the movable member is brought to its operative position; andcontrol ing means for said latch.

3. A device of the character described, comprising a stationary memberhaving an incline extending downwardly and outwardly toward the waterand designed to engage the inner side of the boat; a cooperating membernormally extending outwardly and upwardly from said stationary member toengage the outer side of the boat to hold the boat against movement downthe incline toward the water, said cooperating member being pivoted tothe stationary member to rock downwardly and inwardly thereupon; a stopon said movable member; a gravity latch adapted to engage said stop whenthe movable member is brought to its operative position; a cam hookmounted to rotate at its center and adapted to engage and hold saidlatch locked and also adapted to force the same into its unlockedposition when desired; and means for controlling said cam hook.

4. A device of the character described,

comprising a stationary member having an incline extending downwardlyand outwardly toward the water and designed to engage the inner side ofthe boat; a cooperating member normally extending outwardly and upwardlyfrom said stationary member to engage the outer side of the boat to holdthe boat against movement down the incline toward the water, saidcooperating member being pivoted to the stationary member to rockdownwardly and inwardly thereupon; a stop on said movable member; agravity latch adapted to engage said stop when the movable member isbrought to its operative position; a rotatable cam-hook having its hookpart adapted to engage and hold said latch locked and its cam partadapted to force the same-into its unlocked position when desired; ashaft upon which said cam-hook is mounted; and a lever for controllingsaid shaft.

5. In a device of the character described, means including a rotatableshaft for looking and unlocking the collapsible portion of the chock;and controlling means for said shaft, comprising a lever and a wheelboth rigidly secured thereto; a flexible connection secured at one endaround said wheel to rotate the same in a direction to unlock the chock,and extending, therefrom to the point from which the chock is to beoperated; a bellcrank lever pivoted adjacent the outer end of said shaftlever and having one of its ends arranged to form a latchtherefor whenthe shaft lever is swung into position to lock the chock, the bell-cranklever being provided with a stop to hold it against moving out oflatched engagement with the shaft lever said bell-crank lever being alsooperatively connected with said flexible connection and adapted to bemoved by a pull thereupon out of latched engagement with said shaftlever to release the same, the further pull uponsaid flexible connectionbeing adapted to rotate the controlling lever of the device to unlockthe chock.

6. In a device of the character described, means including a rotatableshaft for locking and unlocking the collapsible portion of the chock;and controlling means for said shaft, comprising an arm rigidly securedthereto; means for engaging said arm when the shaft is rotated intoposition to lock the chock; a flexible connection extending from thechock to the point from which it is to be operated; and mechanismadapting the flexible connection to release the arm and rotate the shaftin a direction to unlock the chock.

7. A device of the character described, comprising a stationary memberhaving an incline extending downwardly and v outwardly toward the waterand adapted to engage the-inner side of the boat; a rocker pivoted tosaid inclineto normally extend upwardly and outwardly therefrom, andadapted to engage the outer side of the boat to cooperate with theincline in holding the boat when the same is not in use, and to swingdownwardly and inwardly when it is desired to release the boat;mechanism for locking said rocker in operative position and forreleasing it; the inclination of the rocker being sufficiently less thanthat of the incline to bring the keel at the longitudinal center of theboat to rest-upon the rocker at a comparatively short distance from theouter side of said pivot, to relieve the strain imposed upon the outerend of the rocker by the weight of the boat and the tension of theslip-guard chains communicated to the locking mechanism; and adjustablemeans for engaging the keel to regulate the burden to be supportedthereby upon said rocker.

8. A device of thecharacterdescribed, comprising a fixed member having astationary inclineadapted to engage one side of the boat; acooperatingrocker pivoted there to and engaging the other side of the boat, andarranged to. also engage the keel of the boat at one side of said'pivot;and adj ustablemeans for regulating the portion of the burden to beimposed upon the rocker through said keel.

9. A lifeboat chock comprising two mem bers mounted on ship deck forsupporting the boat; one ofsaid members being stationary and the othermember being pivoted thereto, the pivoted member having a portionadapted to receive thereupon the keel of the boat to support the majorpart of the Weight of the boat; a lock for the pivoted said member;slip-guard chains for holding the boat on said parts; and adjustablemeans carried by the pivoted member of the chock for engaging the keelof the boat and forcing the same upwardly to regulate the tension onsaid chains.

lOpA device of the character described, comprising a stationary memberadapted to engage one side of the boat; acooperating rocker pivotedthereto and engaging the other side of the boat and arranged to alsoengage the keel of the boat at one side of pivot; mechanism for lockingand unlocking the rocker when in operative position; and means forshifting the burden of the rocker from its outer end to the point whereit is engaged by the keel of the boat and vice versa, for regulating thestrain imposed upon said locking mechanism.

11. In a device of the character described, a stationary member adaptedto engage one side of the boat; a cooperating rocker pivoted thereto andengaging the other side of the boat, said members supporting the weightof the boat; mechanism for locking and unlocking saidrocker when inoperative position; and adjustable means for regulating the strainimposed upon said locking mechanism by the Weight of the boat.

12. A lifeboat chock comprising two members for supporting the boat, oneof said members being stationary and the other member being pivotedthereto; a primary loclrmovable back and forth for locking and unlockingsaid pivoted member of the chock; and a secondary lock for engaging theprimary lock said second lock being adapted by a single movement todisengage the primary lock and simultaneously therewith to positivelyforce the same into its unlocked position. 7 i

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

ANE PIETER SOHAT.

